Recognized as one of the greatest actors in movie history, Charlie Chaplin drew from his impoverished... (Learn more)
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Charlie Chaplin’s Milestones
| Began music hall career at age 5 | |
| Refused to testify before House Committee on Un-American Activities | |
| Sold interest in United Artists | |
| 1898 | Toured as one of the Eight Lancashire Lads |
| 1903 | First featured stage role in "Sherlock Holmes"; toured English provinces |
| 1905 | Appeared in London West End production of "Sherlock Holmes", starring its American author, William Gillette |
| 1907 | Joined Fred Karno's Pantomime Troupe in England; quickly rose to Karno's star attraction, specializing in a dexterous portrayal of a comic drunk |
| 1910 | Made first trip to America with Karno's Speechless Comedians |
| 1913 | Hired by Mack Sennett's Keystone Company while on tour with Karno; left for Hollywood, arriving on Sennett's lot in December with a contract for $150 per week |
| 1914 | Directed, acted in and wrote over 20 shorts |
| 1914 | Film acting debut in Keystone's "Making a Living" |
| 1914 | First appearance of the tramp in "Kid Auto Races at Venice" |
| 1915 | First film with Edna Purviance; she would play the idealized woman in every Chaplin film for the next eight years, remaining on the Chaplin payroll until her death in 1958 |
| 1915 | Left Keystone Company; signed with Essanay Company for $1250 per week (Sennett had offered $750) plus a $10,000 signing bonus; met key collaborator, cameraman Rollie Totheroh, who would shoot every Chaplin film (and only Chaplin films) until his death in 1946 |
| 1916 | Moved to Mutual Film Corporation; the popularity of such Mutual two-reelers as "The Pawnshop", "The Immigrant" and "Easy Street" (only pic in which he ever played a cop) made him an international star |
| 1918 | Signed by First National Exhibitors Circuit, producing his films independently; contract allowed him to build his own studio, which he alone used until 1952 |
| 1919 | Co-founded United Artists Corporation (with Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks and D.W. Griffith) |
| 1921 | Strayed from First National contract calling for two-reelers to make "The Kid" (a six-reeler), his longest and most ambitious film to that time |
| 1923 | Wrote and directed (appearing only briefly as a railway porter) "A Woman of Paris" (first full-length film), a comedy of manners starring Purviance (her final film with Chaplin); first UA release |
| 1925 | Tramp's feature debut for UA, "The Gold Rush"; Chaplin called it "the picture I want to be remembered by" |
| 1928 | Awarded an honorary Oscar for "versatility and genius in writing, acting, directing, and producing 'The Circus'" |
| 1931 | First feature of the sound era, "City Lights" (a silent film); fourth biggest grosser of the year |
| 1936 | Voice first heard in a commercial film, "Modern Times", when he sang a nonsense song; mild left-wing point of view signaled his growing political convivtion; year's second biggest money-earner after "San Francisco" |
| 1940 | First full talkie, "The Great Dictator"; received Oscar nominations for best actor, best screenplay and best picture; refused New York Film Critics Award as Best Actor |
| 1942 | His appearance at a rally supporting a Russian counterattack of Germany (a second front) led to his becoming a target of investigation by the FBI |
| 1943 | Named in paternity suit by actress Joan Barry, who claimed that Chaplin had been her lover for several years and was the father of her child; though Chaplin denied Barry's claims and genetic evidence suggested that he was not the father of her child, the court ruled in Barry's favor |
| 1947 | Played "lady killer" in "Monsieur Verdoux"; Oscar-nominated for his screenplay |
| 1952 | Denied reentry into America after attending the London premiere of "Limelight" (only film in which he appared with Buster Keaton); settled in Switzerland |
| 1957 | First film outside the US, "A King in New York" |
| 1963 | Orchestrated a festival of his films in NYC |
| 1967 | Last film, "The Countess of Hong Kong", starring Sophia Loren and Marlon Brando; Chaplin had cameo as waiter |
| 1972 | Returned to the USA after nearly 20 years to accept an honorary Academy Award |
| 1975 | Knighted by Queen Elizabeth II |
| 1978 | Body dug up by two grave robbers on March 2; found 2 1/2 months later and reburied |
| 1992 | Subject of a biographical motion picture "Chaplin", directed by Richard Attenborough and starring Robert Downey Jr |
| 1995 | Voted the greatest actor in movie history by a worldwide survey of film critics |
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